Oh Henry, you and your big punk heart.
There is, I guess, cell phone generated video content of parts of the crime. It went “viral” on the internet and brought attention to the events.
I got through a few minutes of it but was too disgusted to watch the rest.
The case, the verdict and the surrounding circumstances open up a huge conversation.
These are a few of the things that I have been thinking about…
.. Things get better when women get more equality. That is a bit obvious but I think it leads to better results up the road. If it’s a man’s world as they say, then men, your world is a poorly run carnage fest.
It is obvious that the two offenders saw the victim as some one that could be treated as a thing. This is not about sex, it is about power and control. I guess that is what I am getting at. Sex was probably not the hardest thing for the two to get, so that wasn’t the objective. When you hear the jokes being made during the crime, it is the purest contempt.
So, how do you fix that? I’m just shooting rubber bands at the night sky but here are a few ideas: Put women’s studies in high school the curriculum from war heroes to politicians, writers, speakers, activists, revolutionaries and let young people understand that women have been kicking ass in high threat conditions for ages and they are worthy of respect.
Total sex ed in school. Learn how it all works. Learn what the definition of statutory rape is and that it is rape, that date rape is rape, that rape is rape.
In the spirit of equal time, sites like Huffington Post should have sections for male anatomy hanging out instead of just the idiotic celebrity “side boob” and “nip slip” camera ops. I have no idea what that would be like to have a camera in my face at every turn, looking for “the” shot.
Link via Karen Pickering and Helen S.
Oh so glad you posted this. I am so so busy I rarely leave a comment, but from an american perspective, and a woman’s perspective, I am so so thankful that you take the time to write and think about so many important issues concerning women -and in reality all of humanity. xo
Thanks so much for sharing his post. It seems like such common sense to me that these guys were convicted and amazing that some people don’t think so. How sad that we are still so immersed in rape culture in 2013.
Meh. Thanks for the mansplanation, Rollins. Your track record on women is far from stellar. But hey, thanks for thoughtfully insisting that this is “everyone’s” problem and that locking boys away for longer than a year or two won’t make them better people, as though that is The Most Imoortant Issue here.
Don’t mention patriarchy, rape culture, or women and girls as the “sex class.” Do share how very very brave you were to wince your way through a documentary on rape in the military. Never mind the women who made it necessary to even have such a documentary.
Lastly, thanks for not dwelling on the horrific injustice so-called “Jane Doe” is facing. But do make most of your blog post “What about these boys and how we have failed them?” We all know that men’s views on rape are so much more authoritative than women’s. Thank goodness Dad is here to Very Gravely Admonish us all.
well said.
I saw Henry’s comments as a fumbling towards implicating the wider culture (ie, rape culture) rather than just demonising the two perpetrators. He didn’t come across as an attempt to be an authority – he seemed kinda hesitant and unsure of himself, especially compared to his usual bombastic self.
I don’t think his feminism is perfect but he’s getting a few things really right here – love the stuff about introducing womens’ studies to highschool and the stuff about rape being about control and not sex – and I think voices like his are critical in tackling rape culture. Boys and men urgently need to hear male role models speak out against this stuff.
Yes, he does get a few things right but what irks me about his post is that it comes across as his brilliant bloody ideas. Sure he’s on the right page but must we fawn over him because a big, handsome, punk rocker said something we like to hear?
–Henry, these are lovely ideas, but perhaps you’ve heard of a little something called feminism? It’s been around for a little while. Look it up some time.–
(Great blog, by the way. I’m normally a quiet observer but felt the need to pipe up on this one!)
Yes. However, we know that a lot of supporters of the status quo will listen to Henry Rollins and slowly disseminate his opinion, while they won’t listen to members of the sex class. We also know that it’s impossible that he should be as aware and as eloquent as some of the members of the sex class who’ve spent years railing at the injustice of it all.
Amanda Marcotte made some very pertinent observations at slate.com about the bright futures — now compromised — of the rapists. Her last sentence: “After the Penn State scandal, you’d think people would understand the importance of keeping sexual predators out of positions of power.”
But they don’t. It’s going to take a lot of people a long time to listen and to understand what she’s saying. Rollins is using his power, however clumsily, to contribute to that understanding.
Anyway, I’m pleasantly amazed at the verdict. I really didn’t think society had come this far.
I like this a lot. Because as much as I speak out as a woman against violence against women we need men on our side as well. I have an ongoing argument with my husband where he says he isn’t a feminist although he agrees with me on every point that I believe makes me a feminist. I find this so very frustrating, to me he just doesn’t like the label but I think that the label is so important. It is essential to combat rape culture to have strong, successful men in different fields whether sport, music or business saying “we won’t tolerate this bullshit either” I feel it so strongly in my soul that it is needed.
Also, I don’t know if you read this, but if you didn’t it is fucking amazing. If you did sorry for the repetition:
http://bellejarblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/i-am-not-your-wife-sister-or-daughter/
I was just about to link the same thing!
Excellent post and I agree. I’ve tried to avoid the social media buzz about this case, because I can imagine I’d be totally grossed out. Such a sad state of our country.
I thought this was another good piece ” Steubenville: this is rape culture’s Abu Ghraib moment” http://www.newstatesman.com/laurie-penny/2013/03/steubenville-rape-cultures-abu-ghraib-moment
the ‘its not about sex, its about power’ thing needs more analysis. obviously its not about sex for the victim, but it *is* for the perpetrators. that is what sex is in patriarchal rape culture. ignoring this doesn’t help address the problem. multiple studies show that boys and men think its ok to force women to have sex, they will admit to behaviours that are consistent with rape and sexual assault even though they don’t think they are raping. that’s because this is what sex is in patriarchy – we need to see this.
I think the “it’s not about sex, it’s about power” is a direct rebuke of the idea that men/boys experience uncontrollable lust and that rape stems from some unmet need for sex.. which is based on the idea that women and girls can provoke that uncontrollable lust and therefore take some responsibility for it. It’s not saying that rape doesn’t involve sex acts, just that the motivation behind it is about power and control and humiliation and abuse rather than about sexual desire.
the point is that sex & sexual desire is about humiliation and abuse and control and power. we have to recognise that this is what sex & sexual desire is in patriarchy (i.e. in reality).
I agree. I would go even further to say it doesn’t matter what the motivation is: power or sexual desire or both. Would it make it ok if it was one and not the other? No.
You are a hero.
This is a great article from a male Australian journalist:
“The casual molestation of women is an uncleaned stain on our culture, not just of footy clubs, and it’s unfortunate that women, not men, disproportionately articulate this fact. It is not for women not to be abused, it is for men not to be abusive. It is, then, a conversation to be had between blokes: between fathers and sons, between teammates and friends.
So allow me to kick-start the conversation: if you touch a woman without her consent, you’re scum. Zero excuses. Pass the word.”
Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/comment/rapists-are-criminals-not-just-boys-being-boys-20130320-2gftm.html#ixzz2O8OUdwNt
When I first saw Rollins’ comments I was more or less in favour, in that ambivalent, ‘well, at least people will pay attention and he’s kinda using his magical man sparkles for good’ way, even though he’s just saying what plenty of other people have said better. Today I came across this extract, though, which seems to be pretty clear that Rollins has his own history as a perpetrator that he needs to deal with: http://rotta-kerho.tumblr.com/post/45859019961/from-planet-joe-by-joe-cole-its-a-diary-of-black
I believe Rollins has addressed a number of matters from his Black Flag days – song lyrics and such – but don’t know about this incident particularly. It’s certainly disturbing.. though a little hard to know what to make of it when neither the woman nor Rollins have told the story themselves.
I will just say one thing about Rollins’ words on rape getting attention and that is that I have tweeted and linked to many, many pieces (and written some posts of my own) on rape culture and victim blaming over the years and they were pretty much all written by women. To be honest, I’m kind of ready for men to take some of this load. I don’t necessarily see it as mansplaining, I see it as ‘about bloody time, you lot, this is your issue to deal with too’.
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